U.S. Pat. No. 6,178,757 describes a control apparatus for a cooling chamber into which a microtome or ultramicrotome is placed. The control apparatus encompasses a microcontroller to which a first and a second control circuit for the sample and the knife are connected. An adjusting element is provided for adjusting and also correspondingly monitoring the desired temperature for the knife and sample.
Control of a system that comprises a microtome and a cooling chamber is described in the brochure for the Leica Ultracut S/FCS. There are two separate control units for the overall system. A first control unit is used for control purposes and for the input of cutting parameters for the microtome. The second control device serves exclusively for adjustment and temperature regulation of the cooling chamber around the region of the knife and the sample holder. Since the space available on laboratory benches is usually limited, a plurality of control units is not necessarily especially suitable.
In order to solve the problem of insufficient space, the RCM company proposes, in its company brochure, the variant of a small cooling chamber control unit. This control unit can be placed on the ultramicrotome control unit. Nevertheless, two separate control units are still provided, and the power supply and power electronics for the cooling chamber control unit are additionally housed in a “black box.” This additional black box need not be placed on the laboratory bench, since it contains no operating elements. An additional part of a system is created, however, which is not conducive to user-friendliness.
The Leica CM 3600 discloses a sectioning device for large biological tissues. There is a programmable logic unit controller provided which allows input of study related data. The Leica CM 3600 does not disclose two separate units which are controlled by one control device.
The Leica CM 3050 S shows a cryostat system which can produce slices at low temperatures. The difference to the present invention is that the whole system is covered with a temperature shielding housing and the housing itself includes control buttons.